Hello Seals Families,

I recorded the first video in a series of orientation videos for the team. This video starts with an explanation of the team mission and goals, talks about volunteers and how home swim meets will work. I will be recording more in the future but this is just to get us started, especially since Time Trials are approaching quickly. 

You can access the video through this link: https://youtu.be/PB7X-8fzouU

The video is unlisted so you won't be able to search it on YouTube but we will also be posting it on the website. 

For Time Trials, for our new families, here are some things to think about: 

For the younger kids we recommend freestyle and backstroke at the most at this point unless your child has swam the other events (breaststroke and butterfly) in the past then it's okay to sign them up.

Please also sign up for parent volunteer hours. This is CRITICAL for our success and time trials is our first chance to learn the different positions.

For those of you who have never attended a swim meet here are some helpful tips:

The night before: Pack your swim bag. Towels (several is a good idea), parka, goggles, swim cap, sweat pants, blankets, and of course, find your suit! Help your swimmer prepare for a successful swim meet and fuel them appropriately- choose complex carbs, protein, dark leafy greens, veggies, milk and lots of water. Stay away from sweets. Stretch and visualize your race before bed; think about great turns, strong finishes and a great race!!! Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep!!!!

The morning of: Eat a healthy breakfast- ex. oatmeal, eggs & toast. It is important to have the swimmers fueled before they arrive at the pool for warm up.

During the Meet: Be sure to bring some water and snacks - cliff bars, fruit, nuts, avoid sweets until after the meet. Swimmers should drink plenty of water and continue to eat small bites of food every 30 to 45 min. Swimmers may get nervous and forget to eat so keep them fueled. Small bites of food throughout the day and plenty of water will set your swimmer up for a successful meet. STAY WARM! Home meets are notoriously cold, be ready. Parents may want to bring a camping chair and their own warm clothing. The snack shack will be open during the meet but we recommend swimmers have only healthy snacks before their races.

Here are some things you should expect at any swim meet:

• Be prepared for an early morning and arrive at the required arrival time for your swimmers group. Swimmers are expected to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to their group warm up, even if your first event is half way through the event schedule.
• After arriving, find your team and get ready for a pre-warmup stretch, find our which lanes you are warming up in.
• At multi team meets there will be a team "camp" where your team will setup. This makes it easier to get all the kids to their events. Even better if you "camp" near swimmers of a similar age group.
• We recommend printing out the HEAT SHEETS and ENTRY SHEET off of Swimtopia. This will NOT BE PROVIDED at the meet. These will be PDF documents linked to the meet on Swimtopia. The Heat sheet shows the order of events and heats within those events and the Entry sheet shows each swimmer with all the events that they are entered in.
• The events and heats will be announced, first call 2nd call and last call. Follow along on the Heat sheet and make sure your swimmer is at the starting block at the right lane.
• Some events for the younger swimmers only doing 25 yds will start at the opposite end of the pool from the starting blocks.